Talk:Ashley/@comment-27467512-20151225053158
I knoooow this post and comments are old, but I really want to say this. First off, let me just say it outright: Ashley is my least favorite character. That being said though, when I get this game I plan on playing through it in the best light for her. My judgement of her is how she MIGHT turn out. When I get to her character I'll explain more as to why I dislike her, but as stated previously it is how she MIGHT turn out, not how she is in general. Until Dawn is as people stated a game based on a horror movie. When you see a horror movie you are presented with a character. How they are in everyday life. That is your initial impression of them. We'll call that the cake base. (Yum cake talk in horror games) You have Sam: Her base is confident, caring, loving, protective of her friends, and an all around good moral and natured person. As for her apart from a few possible poor judgements you could say she could be seen as a coward or nosey. That being said, she has the least character change possible. Next is Chris: Chris is shown as goofy, lovable, caring for his friends, the group fool (and I do not mean that in a bad way), he makes his friends at ease with humor. That is HIS base. Now he can have "frosting" added to him based on the players choice. He can appear a coward depending on who he chooses to "shoot" *SPOILDER DUH*. His "frosting" all depends on how the player reacts when given the option to pick a friend. It is the player who decides actions others take towards Chris through HIS choice itself. Choices that the player doesn't right out get a say in (such as opening the door or not :( ) Then you have Mike (My order is a tad random, pardon it): Mike is seen as the typical jock. You love him for his charm and good looks, but part of you KNOWS he's kind of a douche. Call his base somewhat neutral because really, his impression can really depend on people. Some may see him as a total jerk for playing such a huge role in the prank and others see him as more of the idiot (sorry Mike fans) just standing by while catty girls play vicious pranks (sorry Jessica & Emily fans). His frosting is mostly bravery. He sort of (opinion, mind you) makes a recovery in his character and it really can show how much he must care for Jessica. That doesn't stop though in the future for him becoming emotional and rash when pointing a gun at Emily *OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS IF YOU HADN'T NOTICED BY NOW*. His frosting is both good AND bad. It all depends on how the player (YOU) leads it. His actions will still be brave or cowardly, but it is your job to decide whether it goes further down the dark or bright path. Jessica next: Obvious here. She's just as much of a bitch, pardon the language, as Emily. Well, she's less of one in the long run. Not hating on Emily, but Jessica is more of the plotting type and Emily is just all around a bitch. So for her base you could say she was plotting, ditzy, the typical popular girl in all those stereotyped roles that wants to be popular and wants the "hottest" guy she knows as her own. We're led to believe that she would even destroy her friendship with someone to get said guy. Then again, being both Emily and Jessica are sort of "friends for usefulness" you could argue they aren't exactly friends even in the prologue. Her frosting is very limited, but she still shows some change. I'm not talking her trying to escape, she was a bit too dazed and out of it to really show a whole lot of character outside of "OH MY GOD RUN FASTER". I'm talking the moment she and Mike are alone. She lets down her guard to him and us, the player, about how she IS insecure. This also will tie back to Mike and how he can change depending on your reply to her. Despite this, I feel her frosting isn't very dependent on the player as much as other characters. Let's go to Matt now: His base is a bit youngish, in my opinion. A bit in over his head, but less of a jock than Mike. He seems like the boy next door type and you really feel for him early on, if you ignore him holding the camera during the prank (bad Matt bad). His base seems a bit of a pushover towards Emily and rightly so, but doesn't seem to care too much when standing up to other guys. His frosting can play him out to be a jealous angry boy (I know people think he has a right and to an extent he does) OR he can be calm and rational. This plays throughout the game. Whether it be when facing the deer and choosing to carefully walk through or start slicing and dicing or confronting Emily while she is hanging on for dear life to the rail, your choice is whether he puts his emotions in check or uses them in situations. Dun dun duuuuun EMILY: Okay, I'll say it. Emily IS a bitch. No lie, no joke. Holy hell you really are led to hate this chick the moment she starts talking. We'll just list a few base traits for her because she really is rather obvious at first. 1. BITCH. 2. Catty. 3. Posessive. 4. Jealous. 5. Bit of a user. 6. Doesn't seem to care all that much if it doesn't benefit her. Now let's talk frosting/development. Yes, she may be a bitch, but she isn't a heartless wench bent on seeing only herself survive. While you can further her bitchy attitude, depending on how you handle Matt you DO see remorse and loss if he dies. Let's not ignore the sobbing at the cliffside then resulting to "OH CRAP I'M ALONE". She IS resourceful and reacts naturally when having a gun pointed at her head. I would have slapped Ashley too, I think we all would have (although a good chunk of us would have smacked Mike as well). Emily doesn't necessarily STOP being a bitch in the game, but it is up to you whether she uses her *ahem* attitude to better herself/the group or make matters worse. Or hell, kill her off early (yikes to the spinning spikes death). Last we have Ashley: Base as many people pointed out is innocent, I feel a bit niave, takes backstage to her other friends, doesn't like confrontation. And yes, is afraid of death, but really? THEY ALL ARE. One big thing we are pointed out is her crush on Chris and his returned feelings. That gives you a big bias towards the couple at first whether you hate her quickly or love her. Usually in horror movies you want the sweet and innocent couple to survive. You feel for them, your mind wants to see a happy ending for them. Now this is where the frosting and/or MENTAL BITCH SLAP comes into play. Until Dawn does a wonderful job of taking two characters that you want to see together and stretching their relationship in every which way possible. Perhaps you stretch it to where they do become a happy couple (as happy as someone after this could be) OR stretch it to where they are at odds due to poor choices on one of their parts. They planned this. They are showing you all the possible reactions one could face when dealing with these situations. Ashley's frosting is wrapped tightly around Chris and his choices. While some moments do let her show a caring side for her friends (even if that leads to a gnarly death) for the most part you are shown the twists and turns a couple would face when dealing with this kind of horror. And yes, I know. Matt and Emily were a couple, but their story wasn't nearly as changed by each other. Well, yes. Then again we all can see Emily is leading Matt along and Matt can by your choice stand up for himself or just do as she asks. Ash and Chris are more equal than that. Chris wants to protect Ash and Ash wants to protect Chris. It is entirely YOUR choice that determines how that is changed. Her frosting CAN be bitchy and evil. It really can be. Her frosting can also be kind and loving. It is ALL up to the player. So my entire rant really sums up to this: We're given a base of a character and through our decisions and personal opinions they are molded into what we see. That means that no one is wrong about Ashley or any other character. Emily IS a bitch and so is Ash. But it all depends on what we are given and how we use it. Emily can be redeemed while Ash can be totally tainted. Vice versa. For my personal dislike of Ash is based on her darker side. A side that I don't plan (at the moment) on pursuing. So really, guys. All this debate on whether Ash is a bitch or not and if Emily is more of a bitch or not really doesn't matter. Because in the end Ash CAN be a bigger bitch than Emily or not. And Emily can be a major bitch till the end or not. It's your hand in their minds choosing for them.